The UK can capitalize on a £75 billion economic boost by 2035 if it acts quickly enough on AI adoption, according to a new industry taskforce, but time is running out to act.
The Project Sovereign AI Leadership (SAIL) report has called for a “Prosperity Compact” between government, business, regions and citizens - which needs to be established within the next 12 months.
This call to action has been backed by senior executives at Microsoft, NScale, Cisco, and BT.
“AI is the defining technology of our generation, but realising its £75 billion economic potential requires genuine mobilization of the entire nation. By establishing a clear Prosperity Compact between government, industry, and local communities, we can build the infrastructure we need, equip our workforce with future-ready skills, and ensure Britain’s digital destiny," said Steve Rigby, CEO of Rigby Group and chair of the Project SAIL Taskforce.
"This taskforce’s goal isn’t another strategy document, but high-impact actions that materially accelerate the UK’s transition to an AI-enabled economy.”
The report makes ten specific recommendations for the government, kicking off with a Compute Accelerator service for mid-scale infrastructure capabilities.
This would see the creation of a dedicated service within the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) to support local authorities in identifying, matching, and planning mids-cale data center and networking sites.
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Of the roughly 73 GW of data center applications in the connection queue, about 93% sit in the two largest size bands - very little sits between 10 and 100 megawatts, the report noted.
It’s this mid-scale range where the UK can build at pace, serving enterprise, research, defence, and health. The taskforce said Downing Street should back the mid-scale with the same ambition it has shown for the flagship tier.
The taskforce also wants to see grid connection queue reforms, prioritizing homes on distribution networks, and fast-tracking data centers on transmission lines.
Crucially, the taskforce called for a stronger focus on AI training, led by Skills England, across priority sectors including construction, care, professional services, and manufacturing.
The country also needs a clear definition of sovereign AI - often just a marketing label, the report warned. This means creating a workload classification framework that grades sovereignty across each layer of the stack - infrastructure, including data centers, compute and networks, data, models and applications, and workloads.
Elsewhere, the government should publish Cabinet Office guidance and gap analyses, requiring fallback mechanisms for public services reliant on hosted frontier AI models, starting with healthcare; and return the Government Digital Service to the center of government to lead procurement.
"The government has taken important steps to set the UK's AI ambition; now it’s time for government and industry to come together to deliver. Our national strategy must translate into tangible benefits for every region and community," said Sarah Walker, chief executive, Cisco UK & Ireland.
"That starts by recognising that AI is only ever as powerful as the infrastructure that underpins it, the power that sustains it, and the robust cybersecurity that protects it. By backing these recommendations and accelerating digital skills through strong cross-sector partnerships, government and industry can build the secure, trusted ecosystems needed for AI to scale responsibly.”